To begin the quest of answering the question, “What does E = mc² have to do with medicine?”, I’ll, firstly, refer to a dictionary and consider the definition of medicine. From the definition, in my dictionary, I find many different meanings of the word medicine. For example, a meaning of the word medicine that I’m not interested in is: “Something that serves as a remedy or corrective i.e., medicine for rebuilding the economy; measures that were harsh medicine.” But, the most used form of the word is exactly what I have in mind. That definition of medicine has two parts:

a. The science of diagnosing, treating, or preventing disease and other damage to the body or mind.

b. The branch of this science encompassing treatment by drugs, diet, exercise, and other nonsurgical means.

The two parts both speak to how I want to use the word medicine, but neither mention the word, energy. Why not? Or, perhaps the better question is: “Why should a definition of medicine include energy?” Part b, of the second definition, does include the phrase: “…other nonsurgical means.” So, I suppose we could conclude that the use of energy in medicine is an example of nonsurgical means. But, from my own personal experience, I can’t recall a health care professional ever using the word energy as an integral word for diagnosing, treating, or preventing disease and other damage to my body, mind, or spirit.

“Modern allopathic medicine is the only major science stuck in the pre-Einstein era.” –Charlotte Gerson

For the past twenty months, I have been actively involved in trying to improve my health and well-being by using alternative and complementary medicine. Before that, I was regularly using allopathic medicine and did my best to utilize the expertise of my primary care physician(s) and other specialists. A little less than two years ago, after considering my age and some of the recent stress-inducing life-events I had encountered, I began an earnest search for something that would improve the state of my health. My regular doctors prescribed pharmaceuticals that had side-effects which were, in my opinion, worse than the symptoms for which the drugs were prescribed to correct. They offered no advise for exercise and/or life-style changes as a way to improve my health. There were no suggestions offered for eliminating the cause of my problems. I felt helpless and with no solution, other than acceptance of my current state of health. Frankly, I did not feel empowered in my own healing process. Ouch! :-(

I think the act of caring for my healthy body is like the act of fine-tuning a violin. There’s always a little fine-tuning that will improve the body.

Having little success with the more traditional approach to medicine and receiving advise from those who are close to me that I should seek professional help, I made an appointment with Dr. Simon Yu, MD. Immediately, he started me on what I now consider to be one of the most energetic paths toward wellness I have ever encountered. In order to improve my health, he considered such things as heavy metal poisoning, parasites, and allergies. Dr. Yu made specific suggestions regarding my diet and its impact on my health. He also assessed my overall health using Acupuncture Meridian Assessment, also known as EDS – Electrodermal Screening and EAV Meridian Assessment. At first, I was skeptical about the validity of his assessment tools, but after following his prescriptions, I’ll readily admit that the results are good. Because of Dr. Yu’s influence, my outlook on life and healthcare has been forever changed.

One of Dr. Yu’s analogies, regarding healthcare, is the comparison of the body (including mind and spirit) to a violin. The living body is never perfect and can always be adjusted toward the goal of obtaining perfection. The violin is never perfect, and it can always be fine-tuned toward the goal of “perfect” sound. So, he suggested thinking about the act of caring for a healthy body like the act of fine-tuning a violin. I like this analogy and have added one other dimension. When a violin is being tuned, you listen to the sound it makes in order to decide how to tune it. Well, our body makes a “sound” when we feel pain. Looking at pain as a way my body tells me where and what attention it needs, can be helpful, if I have a way to give it the proper attention. And, this is where ENERGY comes in!

Ron (R2), Kathy, and Donna Eden –March 9, 2013

Albert Einstein gave us the formula, E = mc², which relates energy to mass.Donna Eden, who is among the world’s most sought after, authoritative, and joyous spokespersons for energy medicine, interprets this formula simply as: “Energy is all there is!” To simplify this discussion, let’s categorize energy into two forms: flowing energy and congealed energy. Usually, when energy is mentioned, it’s the flowing energy that comes to mind. But, congealed energy (matter) is very much a part of us and in order to holistically view our mind, body, and spirit, we should think of everything in nature as energy. When we do, we have a different paradigm for life. As Eden proclaims; “Energy is the life force and when we have it, we’re alive, and when we don’t, we’re not.”

Do I have a life force?

Energy medicine refers to techniques that involve the putative energy fields. Although it has not yet been able to be measured by conventional methods, those who work with this type of energy, like Donna Eden, claim they can see it with their own eyes or that they can sense it with their hands or bodies. The field of Energy Medicine involving putative energy fields is based on the fundamental premise that all physical objects (bodies) and psychological processes (thoughts, emotions, beliefs and attitudes) are expressions of energy. Another example of: “Energy is all there is.” Using this logic, all bodies are believed to be infused with a subtle energy or life force. This life force is known by a variety of terms corresponding to different traditions. In traditional Chinese medicine it is called qi (pronounced CHEE), in the Judeo-Christian tradition it is called spirit, and in Ayurvedic medicine it is represented in the doshas.

Before going any further into this discussion on energy and its connection to medicine, I would like to revisit the beginning of my time with Dr. Yu, and explain how I began my energetic medicinal journey. :-) On the third Tuesday of each month, Dr. Yu, and an associate, Chaplain Paul Johnson, offer a free monthly wellness group meeting. Looking for a way to improve my body’s health, holistically (body, mind, and spirit), I started to regularly attend the group meetings. During one of the meetings, Pam Cornwell, an Eden Energy Medicine practitioner who is associated with Gateway Energy Medicine and Harmony Health Care, presented a twenty-minute session on energy medicine. During her presentation, she demonstrated a version of a Five-Minute Daily Energy Routine and challenged us to do it daily, for thirty days, and if we did, we would notice a positive change. So, I took her up on her challenge and she was correct. I did notice a positive energetic change after thirty days AND I was hooked-on energy medicine. :-)

Below, are some hyper-text titles of YouTube URLs featuring Carey Phillips, an Eden Energy Medicine practitioner. The Five-Minute Daily Routine that I did as a challenge, included each of these eight YouTube exercises. One of the more interesting aspects of doing Energy Medicine exercises is that the “no-pain, no-gain” mentality isn’t appropriate. What you don’t want to do, is stress your body.

If you’re interested in watching any of the short YouTube videos, which demonstrate eight of the Five-Minute Daily Energy Routine exercises which I do at least once every day, please click, below, on an individual title. They’re each named to help us remember them and for adding descriptive vocabulary to our conversations about Energy Medicine.

R2, HOOKING-UP! This exercise has, so far, “cured” a 50-year old back problem. Wow!

Well, besides the positive change Energy Medicine made in my mind, body, and spirit, it also gave me a strong sense of personal healthcare empowerment. This strong sense of empowerment has resulted in me being able to self-administer procedures on my body for the purpose of assessing which systems are out of balance. I, then, am able to implement corrective actions by building healthy and resilient energy patterns throughout my body, therefore enabling my body to heal itself. That, for me, is powerful! No longer do I feel I’m at the mercy of choosing the appropriate doctor at the right time for the correct procedure to help my body heal from a current problem. And, you can tell by the picture, on the right, that not only am I “hooked-on”, but I’m also “hooked-up.” :-)

Let me be clear that I am well aware there are many who view Energy Medicine as quackery or worse. Click here if you wish to read some negative comments. I am not shunning allopathic medicine, but instead, using Energy Medicine to compliment and enhance the value and power of traditional western (allopathic) medicine. Also, please understand that I am NOT trying to convince anyone to follow my lead. This blog post is a personal “writing for learning” exercise with a secondary purpose of sharing my current thinking about this positive addition to my life: Energy Medicine.

“Conventional medicine, at its foundation, focuses on the biochemistry of cells, tissue, and organs. Energy medicine, at its foundation, focuses on the fields that organize and control the growth and repair of cells, tissues, and organs, and on ways of influencing those fields. This affords energy medicine several strengths in comparison with the conventional medical model. Six of these strengths can, in fact, be thought of as the PILLARS that establish energy medicine as a significant development in health-care.” Donna Eden and David Feinstein

Patient Empowerment, which I mentioned in a previous paragraph, is one of six Pillars of Energy Medicine, listed in a scholarly article, published in 2008, and written by Donna Eden and her husband, David Feinstein, PhD. Click here for a PDF file containing the entire article. These pillars have helped me better understand the promise Energy Medicine holds for improving the health of those of us who choose to use it. Here’s a list of all six Pillars.

1. REACH: Energy medicine (EM) can address biological processes at their energetic foundations so is able to impact the full spectrum of physical conditions.

3. PRACTICALITY: EM fosters healing and prevents illness with methods that can be readily, economically, and noninvasively applied.

4. PATIENT EMPOWERMENT: EM includes methods that can be used on an at-home, self-help basis, fostering a stronger patient and practitioner partnership in the healing process.

5. QUANTUM COMPATIBILITY: EM adopts non-linear concepts consistent with distant healing, the healing impact of prayer, and the role of intention in healing.

6. HOLISTIC ORIENTATION: EM strengthens the integration of body, mind, and spirit, leading not only to a focus on healing, but to achieving greater well-being, peace, and passion for life.

Besides the above article, Donna Eden is directly, and/or indirectly, responsible for many more publications and audio-visual products regarding Energy Medicine. One of her more recent books, The Little Book Of Energy Medicine, contains a brief overview of EM. The following insightful summary is quoted directly from her book.

The Little Book of Energy Medicine

“Energy is the Life Force and, put simply: when you have it, you are alive; when you don’t, you aren’t. Your body’s relationship to this essential energy of nature has been evolving for millions of years. The energies that govern the way your body functions direct your immune system, hormones, and everything else that keeps you alive as decisively as a magnet will organize iron fillings into distinct patterns. These energies have an amazing intelligence. They are much smarter than your intellect in keeping you healthy and in repairing you if you become ill. That said, you can mobilize your energies to keep your body and mind humming at their best. That is what Energy Medicine does. Energy Medicine is your body’s best medicine.

In Energy Medicine, energy is the medicine and energy is also the patient. With energy as the medicine, the natural, vital, Life Force that is your birthright can be harnessed and directed to cure your ills and to uplift your spirit. With energy as the patient, you can restore energies that have become weak, disturbed, or out of balance and heal your body as well.”

———

I will now share some statements that reflect what I consider to be, at this point in my life, basic principles of Energy Medicine.

Hopefully, from these statements, you will be able to see how I “view” Energy Medicine and what I have internalized as important concepts.

We are energy!

1)Everything is energy. My physical body consists of mass and using Einstein’s famous formula, the product of my body’s mass and c² = Energy. Energies — both electromagnetic energies and more subtle energies–form a dynamic infrastructure of the physical body.

2) My body has “energy-flows” (like rivers) that connect all organs. The health of those energies in terms of flow, balance, and harmony is reflected in the health of my body. Conversely, when my body is not healthy, corresponding disturbances in its energies can be identified and treated. Some of these vital energy-flows are referred to as meridians. Click here to visit a site that illustrates the location of the various meridians.

The position of seven energy vortexes (chakras).

3)There are certain places in my body where energy gathers and forms vortex-like shapes in addition to the “energy-flows.” The major vortex-like energies are often called chakras. These vortex-like energies can get out-of-balance and need attention in order to improve my health.

4)The energies that form my body should have appropriate movement, space, balance, and crisscrossing. To overcome illness and maintain good health, my body needs its energies to:

a) Move and have a space to continue to move — energies may become blocked due to toxins, muscular or other constriction, prolonged stress, or interference from other energies.

b) Move in specific patterns — generally in harmony with the physical structures and functions that the energies animate and support. “Flow follows function!”

c) Maintain balance with other energies—-the energies may lose their natural balance due to prolonged stress or other conditions that keep specific energy systems in a survival mode.

d) Cross over — at all levels, from the micro level of the double helix of DNA, extending to the macro level where the left side of my brain controls the right side of my body and right side to the left. I am at my best, health-wise, when my energy-flows cross.

5)Flow, balance, and harmony can be noninvasively restored and maintainedwithin my energy system by:

6) As energy flows, it can get blocked, like a dam blocking a river, and I often feel the blockage as pain.Pain is a way in which my body “tells me” it needs some attention. It is more than just a distress signal; it is a distress signal that demands that you fix the problem and, if you can’t, then figure-out how you can. Pain is often the result of energy not flowing properly.

7)My body can act as a magnet with the energy. Body parts, like my hands, can be used to attract and repel energy.

“…body parts, like my hands, can be used to attract and repel energy…”

8)There is a “protective-like” energy field around each of us. This energy field is like the atmosphere around the Earth. Acting like a second skin, it protects me from energetic radiation that exists all around us. Without a strong energy field, chronic illnesses, heart problems, allergies, etc. can more easily become a problem in my quest to be as healthy as I can be. Through various exercises and procedures, I can strengthen my personal protective-like energy field.